Bird,wildlife and natural landscape photography is an enjoyable and absorbing pastime. It is also an immense amount of fun! The advent of the digital camera and image enhancement software has had a significant impact on what was once the domain of professionals and serious amateurs. Today, it's an accessible and affordable hobby, no matter what the level of entry.
If you're starting from scratch, as we did, it's best to recognise from the outset that it will take some time to transition from a garden variety "point and click" camera operator to a photographer capable of combining composition with the appropriate exposure functionality. To help you get underway, this site is about the "basics." It's written by beginners, for beginners. It's not a definitive work by any means, just a synopsis of all the important concepts you will encounter if you decide to jump in and participate in this genre. Although we had little direct photography experience, we made a commitment to begin when we retired. By chance, this coincided with the advent of digital photography technology. As we had the good fortune of living next to a waterfowl preserve, we started by stalking birds. We soon became disciples of Arthur Morris. Although he has an exclusively avian focus, his photography books and excellent online material unveil many digital camera and enhancement techniques that have proven invaluable in bypassing the myriad of mistakes that inevitably plague most beginners.
From a learning perspective, our blog is hopefully presented in a natural sequence. To begin, we attempt to distill the full gamut of bird and wildlife photography into a "basics" nutshell, honing in on key concepts and terminology. We then help you to choose equipment, describing essential features and operation. In the field, we emphasize the importance of positioning for light and backdrop, providing several techniques that help ensure you will capture the best exposures possible. We also show you how to manage and enhance image files, detailing a seven step process for creating small prints and a less demanding alternative for good Web graphics. Once you grasp the fundamentals, we point to more in-depth reference material and photo tours to complete what we hope is a roadmap for growth. Most importantly, we pinpoint hundreds of the best bird and wildlife locations in western North America, sites we have visited and enjoyed. In addition, we help you fill in the gaps while traveling by describing some of the key natural landscape techniques that will hopefully elevate your overall photography skills. Finally, we present Galleries where we share our images with you from locations that we feel provide abundant photography opportunities.
Don't be daunted by what appears to be complex technology and terminology. The concepts are simple and easy to implement. Unlike film, digital is a creative medium that provides instant feedback, allowing you to review results and correct mistakes in no time. You'll find the old adage "practise makes perfect" is an appropriate mantra as you acquire the skills to develop what can truly become an exciting art form.
If you feel we have erred at any point throughout our blog, especially the species descriptions, technical analysis or advice, please don't hesitate to contact us. Our objective is to simply share results as we learn from our mistakes and hopefully become more proficient and knowledgeable photographers. It is very much a work in progress and will be updated as we gain experience or correct our errors and omissions over time.